ONE Featherweight Kickboxing King, Longtime Foe Renew Rivalry In August

Chingiz Allazov took hold of the featherweight kickboxing division in ONE Championship by knocking out Superbon Singha Mawynn for his championship, and his first title defense will be against someone whom he has faced twice in the past.

Sources report that Allazov will be facing Marat Grigorian at ONE Fight Night 13 on August 4 (August 5 in Asia) to finally complete their trilogy that favors his opponent based on their previous bouts.

The pair first met in May of 2013 under the Glory banner, and both men were still entering the primes of their careers as Allazov was just 19, while the challenger was only 21.

Both men had their shining moments throughout the bout, but as the first round was drawing to a close, Allazov caught an errant elbow from Grigorian as the latter tried to land a spinning head kick, which busted him open.

The ringside doctor determined that Allazov could not continue due to the cut and was ruled a no-contest on both of their resumes.

They would again meet under Victory Kickboxing Series in December of that year, but it would be Grigorian who has the last laugh by defeating the Georgia-born Belarusian-Azerbaijani via unanimous decision.

With a rather disappointing end to their first bout and a defeat at Grigorian's hands, Allazov's road to firmly establishing himself as ONE Championship's best featherweight kickboxer will need him to exorcise his demons first.

Since they last met, they tore it up in the kickboxing circuit as they both won titles in different promotions, while having marquee victories under ONE Championship.

While fans would believe that this is the first time that they have been scheduled to face one another under the promotion's umbrella, the Singapore-based combat sports giant had Allazov and Grigorian fighting in the semifinals of the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing Grand Prix in January 2022.

Grigorian was forced off the card after testing positive for COVID-19 and instead had Allazov squaring off against Jo Nattawut, which he won by first-round knockout.

Should Allazov come away with a victory, it can be expected that a fourth bout will be put in place down the line since it would mean that each man has a win over the other.

However, if Grigorian again defeats Allazov, the shadow of the Armenian-Belgian will continue to hang over his career like a dark cloud until he can finally banish it forever.

The champion fully knows what is at stake when he takes on Grigorian, and it will certainly make ONE Fight Night 13 a must-watch card.

ONE Fight Night 13 is set to take place at the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.